You're Still You
by nabilanordin11
Summary: Regina leaves Storybrooke and she loses all her memories of her past life. Daniel is alive and he remembers everything. Will their true love stand the test of time? Multi-chapter one-shot. Originally a drabble I posted on Tumblr.
1. Chapter 1

**AU: After Cora's death, Regina found herself at a dead end. There was no one left in this world for her to love and no one left to love her in return. She decides to cross the town line leaving all her memories behind. Unknown to her, when she enacted the curse, it brought Daniel to this world—alive and memories intact but not in Storybrooke, Maine. On the streets of New York, true love prevails.**

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_Dear Henry,_

_If you are reading this it means that you've finally come home. However, home is not where you will find me. I'm sorry that I can't be there to welcome you. _

_I want you to know first beyond all else, that I love you. I have always loved you. Henry, you may not be born of me but I loved you as if you were my own. I once said to you, that I don't know how to love very well. It was not that I loved you little; I love you just as purely and fervently as other mothers love their children. Please remember that._

_As a mother, I understood that my task here in the world was to do you good. I failed you Henry. I tried so hard to be the best mother I knew how to be. I hurt you and I'm sorry. You brought happiness into my life and all I did was take away yours. I realize that now._

_I shall cherish those early years, when you only knew me as your mother. There were times that we were okay, wasn't there? I hope so. _

_I wish I was strong enough to be the mother, the person you wanted me to be. But I'm just not, Henry. I have lost so much in my pursuit of finding happiness and along the way, all I have achieved was hurting the ones I loved most. I'm tired of losing. But please understand, my reason for leaving has nothing do with what you did or didn't do. I just want you to be happy._

_Don't be frightened and sad because I am not coming back any more. Learn, my little prince, to look at life early as a serious matter. Life is hard, it does not pamper anybody, and for every time it strokes you it gives you ten blows. Become accustomed to that soon, but don't let it defeat you. Decide to fight. _

_Henry, I hope now with me gone, you will have the family you always dreamed of. You will always be a part of me Henry. I carry you in my heart, as I always have. I love you._

_Your mother_.

He found the letter on his bed. He wonders now how long has it been lying there. A frown begins to form as he is trying to recall in what state he found the letter. He rubs the pads of his fingers hoping that there may be some sort of imprint of dust to indicate a timeframe. There was none.

Staring at his door way, "Mom?" he chokes. Disbelief clouds his thoughts as he dashes towards the master bedroom. He continues calling out for her, his voice growing frantic as he drew nearer. He pushes her bedroom door and it swings wide open, the hinges creaking at the force.

It's so empty, he thought as his eyes dart around the room. The pale tones of her bed accentuating the emptiness enveloping the room. The flowers were wilted and yellow, its life fading away. "Mom?" sounding like the child he was not too many years ago, asking for comfort on those nights the shadows got the best of his imagination.

"Maybe she's just taking a short trip," he says to himself. "Like I did when I went to New York," he thinks optimistically. But he finds her closet is empty, her vanity stripped of its adornments. With his head hung low, he heads over and sits on her side of the bed, a sign of defeat. He doesn't cry.

The loud noise that echoed throughout the mansion prompted the Sheriff to check on her son, who wanted to grab a few things from his room. Under any other circumstances, she knew that treading upstairs in the former Mayor's mansion would have been suicide.

She finds him in the master bedroom, Regina's room, sitting on her bed while absently staring at a piece of paper. Three times it took for her calling his name to get his attention. The look on his face as he turned to face her was heartbreaking but she knew that look all too well and it made her stomach turn. "She's gone".

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**Please review! I'd love to hear what you think! ~parilla-adkins~**

**A/N: part 1 of 3**


	2. Chapter 2

**Finally Chapter 2! Thank you so much for the reviews and follows! Hope you enjoy!**

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28 years ago, Daniel Richmond took a sharp intake of breath, a hand clutched at his heart as he tried steadying his heartbeat. That in itself was somewhat peculiar to him; the organ in his body was there, beating fast and full of life. But there was a dull ache similar to a wound taking longer than it should to heal. Searching for the cause, beneath the collar of his pyjamas a faint scar over his heart is discovered.

He will always remember that day. The time was 8.15am and he had woken up in a strange land, a scar over his heart and his true love nowhere to be seen.

The days that came after that were not kind to him. The blinding lights of the morning seem to mock him, painfully reminding him that there is a world outside willing him to breathe. In the darkest of his days, he wished that waking up wasn't an option.

As much as he wanted to separate himself from this reality, he couldn't deny the opportunity that he was presented with. He was afraid of losing the life he had, the memories that came with it, his love for Regina for fear of it diminishing as time passed by. But he soon realized it wasn't that he was afraid to lose his life; he was afraid to lose the life he could've lived.

He made a makeshift living of this new life, flitting through the days and nights alone as he never allowed himself to grow attached to someone. He found solace in one thing though. Working at an Equestrian center gave him a familiar ground to lean upon when the world became a cruel stranger.

The pleasure of remembering proved to be bittersweet as there were times it was too difficult to bear. Nightmares of that dreadful night would haunt him, leaving him breathless, beads of sweat forming at the back his neck and him screaming his lover's name into the dead of the night. To forget, he thought to write to her as they used to when she was kept away from her riding lessons.

_Dear Regina,_

_I know you won't ever read this, my love. I don't know where you are, I don't know if you're alive even. I have tried looking for you, God knows I have. I'm sorry I didn't look for you hard enough. It hurts me so much that I left you alone when I was supposed to be there for you. I'm sorry my love._

_Late at night as I stare out at the night sky, thinking of you, I find myself asking is it fair if all of your tears and pain are yours alone to bear? What kind of life have I been given if it is unjust and unfair to you? My love, if I could seize your tears and pain and make it mine, only then would this be fair. _

_Regina, my love, I regret every day that I took for granted the time that we had even though it was just between lunch and tea. There were so many things I wanted to say to you. Most of all, please forgive me for not having told you enough that I love you. _

_I will always remember the day you asked me to marry you. Oh Regina, you were always the bolder one, a step ahead of everyone. Even me. In that moment, you never looked so beautiful Regina, the stars would have envied at how your eyes sparkled._

_After you had left, I couldn't find it in me to rest even though I knew that our journey the next day will be long. My mind was filled with thoughts of our future life together. I imagined us growing old and gray together, never leaving each other's side. How unbelievably happy I would be having you to be the mother of my children. You have so much love in you that I had no doubt that you would've been a great mother._

_Regina, despite all that's happened I will never stop loving you. I won't lose hope. True love is the most powerful magic of all, is it not? I believe I will meet you again, that maybe this life is just a way of a means to an end. To our happy ending._

_Love always, your true love,_

_Daniel._

This letter was the first of many he wrote to his beloved. But tonight, as the pale winter moon shone through his window and the park lay out before him, he opted to take a stroll instead. Little did he know that on the snow-filled streets of New York his life would change forever. Again.

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A few weeks ago, a one-handed pirate had asked her what would happen to someone when they crossed the town line. He heard rumours of memories being swiped off clean and reverting to one's cursed self that is only known to this world. She neither confirmed it nor denied it. What she did tell the Captain that it is not so much about the memories, as the curse did not affect her, crossing the town line would only cause her to lose her magic.

Untrusting of the pirate, she didn't feel it necessary to impart the truth onto him. The truth being that if she were to cross the town lines, the implications would be just the same as the rest of Storybrooke but with an exception. Specifically for her and her alone, a new set of memories would be fabricated as she had no cursed self to begin with. She knew not if any memories would remain or all would be forever forgotten. So when she made the decision to leave, it did not bother her because the less she remembered the better.

New York had appealed to her first and foremost because it was the polar opposite of Storybrooke. She required noise, busyness, crowds and crowds of people in which she could lose herself in. She had read once that the city of New York is large, glamorous, easy-going, kindly and incurious. And that's exactly what she needed.

As she drove past by the town sign that haunted her dreams in the early years of the curse, she found it ironic at how the tables have turned. It was here she let a boy go, and it is here now that a boy is letting her go. Her tears fell unabated as her last thoughts were of her son and then all that was left was the open road.

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Her name is Regina Mills. The tears in her eyes were tears of grief over her dead husband and the life she left behind. Her father had passed away long ago and her mother was never a constant figure in her life. There was no family and she hadn't a clue to where she was going.

That was her story.

She arrived in New York a few weeks ago, disoriented and confused. She rented a serviced apartment for the time being as she was still unsure whether to stay. Most days, she stayed indoors in hopes to find her bearings. Her memories were few and far between. Initially she blamed it on the grief and guilt she felt from leaving.

During her naps, she would dream of a child's laughter, green pastures rolling out as far as the eye can see and although she remembers that she had a fear of horses, she dreams of them too. Nightmares would rattle her in her sleep as images of death flashed before her. Too often she woke up in tears.

More and more questions boggled her mind as time passed by. Soon she deemed it useless to ponder on imponderables, although that does not usually prevent her from doing so. One cold night, sleep did not come to her and the moon had never looked so radiant against the backdrop of stars that she decided to go for a walk in the park nearby.

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He could tell with one glance, one look, one simple instant. It was her eyes. Despite the darkness of the moonlit sky he could see that they were haunted and sad. Most of all though, they were familiar. He'd spent years with those same eyes-soft and warm-staring back at him. He would have known them anywhere. But could it be or is his mind playing tricks on him?

"Regina? Is that really you?" a gruff voice calls out to her. She turns around and finds a man looking at her with shock but also recognition on his face. That voice. It sounded oddly familiar to her. She shrugs it off. "Yes, I'm Regina… and you are?" she asks innocently. He swallows his tears and looks at her straight in the eye, "I'm Daniel. Your fiancé."

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**Please review! I'd love to hear what you think! ~parrilla-adkins~**


	3. Chapter 3

**I hope you enjoy the last and final chapter to this oneshot. Thank you again for reading, it's been my pleasure. **

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At the mention of his name, it was as if time stood still. Flurries of snow were caught in mid-air, his face unchanging from the sorrow of his declaration and a single tear lay stagnant on his cheek. An onslaught of memories rose within her, invading her mind and inflicting her heart with pain and happiness all at once.

Memories of a young girl playing at her grandfather's court, her father's soothing voice reading to her at night, her mother bounding her to her chair for disobedience; her eyes closed shut at that as though she could feel her mother's magic grip on her body. Then in an instant there were memories of her and Daniel, their stolen glances which soon led to stolen kisses, their plans to elope after the King's proposal. There was happiness.

She feared what came next. Her mother walking in on their escape, her mother ripping the heart out of her true love and her tears falling relentlessly onto his face as she kissed it fervently. _Love is Weakness._

Daniel reached his hands out to her reflexively when she stumbled backwards, as he had watched her go through something that he didn't understand. He had expected a reaction from her, one of surprise at least. But instead, she stood still in front of him, eyes shut and arms gripping tightly around her coat. At the touch of his hand on her forearm, her body flinched leaving him standing there with his hands in the air as a show of surrender.

She dared herself to open her eyes and at the sight of him, butterflies fluttered in the depths of her stomach as it always did.

Daniel. Her Daniel.

She wanted to touch him, to throw her arms around him — but something held her back. Maybe it was the fear that her arms would pass right through him, only to find a ghost staring back at her.

As though he'd been able to read her thoughts, he slowly angled toward her. He raised his hands and held his palms out to her. "Regina, it's alright. I'm sorry I scared you like that. I don't know what I was thinking. I just—I just can't believe it's you," his voice hoarse as he fought the urge to cry.

She held his gaze as she neared him. He looked older, rougher around the edges, his sideburns showing signs of gray but it was definitely him. He stayed silent as he watched her study his features. A small smile crept upon his face when her hands cupped his face.

She felt a rush of warmth course through her, a relief as pure and sweet as spring rain. He was real. This was real. She had found him. She could touch him. She could feel him. Finally they were together. "Daniel…Oh Daniel…" she says with tears in her eyes.

He drew her close. She leaned into him and she felt him press his lips to her forehead in a kiss. Her tears fell harder at the intimate gesture. Still in disbelief she raises her hand to rest on his chest and sure enough, she felt the beat of his heart, thumping softly.

Knowing what she was thinking about, he took the hand that pressed on his chest and kissed the inside of her hand, "I'm here. I love you Regina".

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It's been a few weeks since that night at the park and since then, Regina had moved into Daniel's apartment. She brightened up the apartment instantly, just as she brightened his soul. Waking up by her side became his most favourite thing in the world. Her hair lightly tousled from the previous night's twists and turns, her face slightly scrunching when his stubble grazed her skin and her hand never leaving its resting spot on top of his heart.

In the early hours of the morning, as he watched her sleep he couldn't help but wonder where she had been all these years. He knew that she was in New York for barely a month before they met but when he questioned her, she refused to answer. There were days that she closed off on him entirely when he asked her about her past.

She was very much the Regina he had fallen in love with but it unnerved him on the days he found her standing by the window, deep in thought and her eyes darkened with sorrow. She would be so quiet that sometimes he'd forget they were in the same room. He tried comforting her but it only made her angry. It was difficult for him as he found himself lacking the ability to deal with her when she was like that, a side to her that he never knew and he assumed it was due to her past.

"What do you remember?" he asks her one evening. They were seated together on the window-seat, and all at once she relaxed and her head fell on his shoulder, and she began weeping. It was one thing to cry, he has seen her cry in her sleep when her nightmares overtook her dreams, his heart sunk further at the sound of her weeping. "Sshhh, sshhh, my love I didn't mean to make you cry," as he rocked her in his arms.

"No… Daniel it's not you," speaking through her tears, "I—I don't know what to answer you. Before I met you, it was just like this. I knew who I was but there were some parts of me missing. I don't remember how I got here, I don't remember my life before coming here," her voice pleading to him, to the world, to understand what's happened to her. Gripping tighter at his shirt, her voice cracking with emotion, "Maybe I'm going to wake up tomorrow morning and remember everything," she hiccupped, "but right now you're the only thing I'm sure about."

He hadn't asked her about it again after that. They promised each other that they will take one day at a time and enjoy each other's company making up for time lost. She discovered that she knew how to cook and that she had a specialty dish, one that Daniel pointed out to her as lasagna. She was far better at cooking the dish than pronouncing its name.

One morning, a tugging sensation at her finger caused her to wake up much earlier than she had hoped. Ready to express her annoyance at Daniel, her words remained on the tip of her tongue as she realized that Daniel had slipped a ring on her finger. "Finally I can do this properly. Regina, I love you so much, I never thought I would get this chance again, will you do me the honour of marrying me?" his eyes filled with love for the woman he thought he had lost forever. Her answer came in a passionate kiss.

To celebrate, he insisted on bringing her to the Equestrian center where he worked, the snow had fallen and it would be perfect to take the horses out. He also hoped by bringing her to the stables, it would help her remember. She hesitated at first because to her, the last memory she had was in a stable and it still haunted her.

As they were grooming the horses together, Daniel noticed that the saddle rings looked similar to the one he had given her back at their land. Their makeshift ring that symbolized simplicity, their humble beginnings and their love for one another. Sensing his silence, Regina turned to him asking if there was anything wrong. He only smiled in response, admiring her beauty, appreciating her presence, "Regina, it was so easy to love you." She beamed at him, eyes wide and shining with tears.

In the spur of the moment, he took her hand and slipped in the ring as he had done before, with the same look of adoration emanating from his eyes. As the ring went over her knuckle, she jerked her hand away from him, frowning at her hand when she felt a burning pain as though the ring had left a searing mark on her.

That feeling from that cold winter night was there again. The world had ceased to move and everything froze at its spot. The memories that came back were more vivid this time as it continued from the last memory she had of Daniel.

Rumplestiltskin teaching her magic, Snow telling her that it was she who told her mother about Daniel, the image of her mother gripping on the sides of the Looking Glass before she disappeared into it and the feeling of magic at her fingertips when she ripped and crushed the heart of an innocent for the first time. She shuddered at the thought of her darkened heart engulfed by magic in its evilest forms. The lives of many that had perished as she tore villages apart in her path of vengeance against Snow White.

An unbelievable pain tore through her body when she saw her very own hand plunge into her father's chest, her tears pooling in her eyes as he fell to the floor. _I'm sorry. _Suddenly, she felt the ground beneath her shake, a strong wind billowing around her and a familiar sense of victory creeping up within her. _This is MY happy ending. _And then, all was quiet.

She was the mayor of Storybrooke, Maine, living among those cursed by her to live without a happy ending besides her own. However her life was monotonous and empty, as she searched for her happy ending. Memories of a child's laughter soon were heard, her son, Henry-the one person that drew love from her heart since Daniel. Henry squirming away from her embrace, hurting her as his words rung in her head, _I found my REAL mom._

The world she built around her crumbling at her feet, as True Love's kiss woke everyone from their cursed state leaving her helpless and at the mercy of her enemy. She only felt pain afterwards when the memories flashed at a faster pace. Her hands outstretched from the dark magic she absorbed in efforts to save her enemy, Henry seeking comfort from his birthmother when he believed she was incapable of change, her mother returning to her with promise of redemption and finally, her mother lying in her arms as she took her last breath. _You would've been enough._

Her back was against the wall, her chest heaving as she struggled to control her breathing, feeling sick to her stomach from her ordeal. Daniel had his hands on her upper arms, trying to comfort her the best way he knew how. It frightened him when she didn't answer his calls, when her face contorted in pain, when her eyes turned hard and cold and most of all when tears streamed relentlessly down her face.

Breaking away from her trance, her eyes spoke of an unforgiving emotion that he couldn't comprehend. "No…Daniel. I know who I am. I remember," her voice barely audible as she fought to speak from being overcome with sadness. His smile of relief soon faltered when she broke out of his grasp and ran out of the stables. He ran after her but when he caught up to her, it was too late as he saw her drive away in his car. "Regina!"

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The same moon accompanied him as he waited for her return as it did the night he found her. He forced himself to believe that she would return. He had looked for her in all the places they had been, his mind racing at the thoughts of her being out there in the city, alone and afraid, and God forbid, in any sort of danger. But the darker it became, so were his hopes of finding her. He just hoped she would find a way back to the apartment. Soon.

He didn't move from his place on the window-seat when he heard the front door clicking, signaling that she had returned. He expected her to head straight for the bedroom but he soon felt the cushions of the window-seat dip underneath her weight. He moved slightly to face her and his breath hitched at the sight of her. Her hands lay still in the curve of her lap; her head hung low, and her eyes rimmed red from hours of crying.

He lifted her face to his and planted a lingering kiss on her forehead, pulling away hesitantly, he whispered against her hairline, "I was afraid you were not coming back." She thought there were no more tears left in her, but it fell nonetheless. His thumb feathered across her cheek brushing off her tears. "What happened back there?" he asked her softly, careful not to pressure her into telling him.

She turned away from him as she blurted out everything that had happened since his death. Her spiral into darkness as hate and vengeance took over her heart, the love she found in the eyes of a child, the pain of unrequited love from her son as time and time again he rejected her and of the momentary look of unconditional love on her mother's face before she breathed her last breath.

"You don't want to love me. I'm not the same person you fell in love with, not after everything I've done," she said before getting up to leave. His hand flew to her wrist, pulling her back down to sit next to him. He could feel her quickened heartbeat underneath his fingers. "Regina, no. You are right, you are not the same person but neither am I. You say all these things, evil things that you've done but all I see is how far you'd go for love."

"How can you love me so much? How can anyone love so much?" she asked him incredulously. After fighting for so long to be loved in return, it's hard to accept when someone finally does. And not just by anyone, but by her true love. "Oh Regina, I've loved you for so long, I've always looked up to everything you are, there's nothing you could do or have done that would change that because to me, you're still you."

Nothing else mattered to her at that moment, he believed in her although she never asked him to, he loved her despite her faults and despite her past. Nothing could compare to what she felt as he held her in his embrace, nothing felt better than to settle in the crook of his neck and inhale the scent of him.

Pulling away from her slightly, he looked to the moon before turning to her once more, "My breath was incomplete, my heartbeat was incomplete," gesturing to his heart, "I was incomplete. But now the moon is full, complete in the sky and now I have become complete as you are with me. True love only happens once in a lifetime, you're lucky. You get to have it happen to you twice. I love you Regina."

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**Please review! I'd still love to hear what you think! :D ~parrilla-adkins~**


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